A’s Upgrade Starting Rotation with Trade, More Ready to Hang with Big Boys

Tommy Milone hasn’t lost a start since May 3 at Boston. In his 11 starts since, he gave up a total of 20 runs. Yet Saturday he was sent to the minors.

There it is. The illustration of why A’s general manager Billy Beane pulled the trigger on a blockbuster weeks before trade deadline, why he gave up top prospect Addison Russell. With the acquisition of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs, the A’s starting rotation has crazy depth.

Now, Oakland is much more ready to hang with the big arms they’ll face in the playoffs. They can go into Games 3 and 4 of a series relying on more than the hope of long shot punching above his weight.

Of most importance, per Beane, they have depth to help them ward of the charging Anaheim Angels and Seattle Mariners for the AL West crown.

The A’s don’t have marquee names taking the mound. But they have a top four that will provoke sweat beads in opposing brows: Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Samardzija and Hammel. Four starters with reliable stuff, with experience under their belts, with the moxie to match the big moments sure to come.

Add to that the highest-scoring offense in baseball and a bullpen that has found its groove, and the A’s are in way better position for a World Series run.

“They made that trade for us,” Detroit ace Justin Verlander, who’s dominated the A’s the last two postseasons, told MLB.com. “Star power in the playoffs goes a long way. Power pitching in the playoffs goes a long way.”

Now the A’s have it. Because, once again, Beane shows he sees what many others don’t.

Most would look at having the best earned run average among starting rotations, which the A’s did (3.30), as a sign things are going great. However, Beane saw the A’s starters as a weakness.

Most would consider having one of the top prospects in baseball untouchable. The A’s had that in Addison Russell. The shortstop was ranked No. 14 in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects of 2014. He was clearly the best bet at stardom the A’s had in its farm system.

“He is a great prospect and he is going to be a great player,” Beane said. “That’s a fact.”

Yet Beane saw that prospects are often either overrated or overpaid, and that a talent like Russell can be just as valuable as a trade chip than as future production. That’s why even before Beane sent him to Chicago, he reportedly offered Russell to Tampa Bay for Rays ace David Price.

Why was Beane virtually shopping a likely future All-Star? Because the A’s needed more horses in the starting rotation. It’s been good, but the lingering doubt could not be denied.

Gray is in his first full big league season, and it shows in his tendency to spiral a bit when things get rough. He’s been knocked around just enough to temper a bit the frenzy he created with last year’s dominant postseason showing.

Scott Kazmir is on pace for his most innings pitched in a season since 2007, with an injury history than invites uncertainty. Jesse Chavez hadn’t started a game in the majors before this season. Milone has been lights out, but he won’t scare the lineups of the Angels or Blue Jays or Tigers.

That’s just too many question marks. Beane probably never felt comfortable with that crop after expecting Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin to be in the mix before injuries knocked them out.

“This was an area a few weeks ago we absolutely felt like we had to address,” Beane said of his team’s starting pitching. “Really started the process of trying to find at least one guy and ultimately decided we needed two guys … We thought they were two of the best guys available.”

Samardzija and Hammel both rank top 25 in the majors in earned run average (along with Kazmir) and strikeouts (along with Gray). They’re only two of three pitchers in baseball with triple-digit Ks and fewer than 109 total innings pitched.

Hammel will have the team’s best WHIP when he walks in the clubhouse and opponents are hitting just .222 against him (12th best in majors).

Samardzija is top-shelf talent who with run support would probably be headed for the All-Star game.

Those are now the A’s third and fourth starters.

And they come to a team with good defense, a bullpen that’s found its groove, in a park that has its bonuses for pitchers, and with something to play for.